Traditional Scottish Songs
- Bonnie Wee Thing

This is a short Burns poem which was dedicated to the petite charms of Deborah Duff Davies in 1793. Burns wrote a letter to her a few months later in which he said "I am a good deal luckier than most poets. When I sing of Miss Davies I have only to feign the passion - the charms are real."


Bonnie Wee Thing

Chorus

Bonnie wee thing, cannie wee thing,
Lovely wee thing wer't thou mine,
I wad wear thee in my bosom,
Lest my jewel I should tine.

Wistfully, I look and languish
In that bonnie face of thine.
And my heart it stounds wi' anguish
Lest my wee thing be na mine.

Chorus

Wit and Grace and Love and Beauty
In ae constellation shine!
To adore thee is my duty
Goddess o' this soul o' mine!

Chorus

Meaning of unusual words:
cannie=in this context it means good or nice
stounds=throb painfully

Return to the Index of Traditional Scottish Songs



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